A mobile app is the best and most convenient way to connect to the digital world. What are the important factors in determining the success of an app?

Along with functionality, the UX design of the app is no less important than anything else. So, let’s know quickly why user experience is critical for mobile applications.

Why User Experience is Critical for Mobile Apps

User Experience (UX) design in iOS and Android is an important part of the design process. Several reasons are there that show why mobile apps need good UX design: helps to figure out the target audience, create engaging and relevant content, and save time and money.

Now, let’s a walkthrough of a few essential tips to enhance the user experience.

Different Ways to Use Mobile UX Design to Enhance User Experience

1. Design for the Platform

Let’s consider only Android and iOS for the sake of discussion. These are two operating systems you need to design and develop business applications for. Both iOS and Android have different conventions and standards that you should do your best to follow. Some of which include:

• Diverse sizes and resolutions
• Look and feel of UI components: data picker, on/off vs. checkbox
• Android devices come with a dedicated back button
• On the other side, iOS comes with the bottom of the screen

If you are planning to develop for both platforms i.e., iOS and Android, make sure to read the iOS Human Interface Guidelines and Android Design page. Furthermore, if you have access to both iOS and Android devices, you need to be aware of both platforms. You need to use each as your primary device for a few days. Compare your favorite mobile apps to get a good sense of suitable but important differences.

2. Get on-boarding process right

On-boarding experience is crucial. Before heading to this point, it is a good time to know about the on-boarding process. It is a way to introduce users to a new product, app, or feature. It gives the users a guided introduction to the product and set up some initial preferences.

As a rule, a great user onboarding should shorten users’ time to value, get them to activate fast, and guide them to their aha moment. On-boarding is one of the primary factors for turning your product’s evaluators into beginners. That’s why it’s essential to consider this for enhancing user experience (UX).

The excellent on-boarding user examples are Slack, Duolingo, and Grammarly. Here we will consider Slack, a popular team messaging app, which educates users with the friendly bot and empty states.

What is good about Slack’s user onboarding?

Herein we’ve gathered some points on Slack’s user on-boarding process:

• Slack uses its Slackbot to host a walkthrough of the software. Its interactive approach directs users to take meaningful actions while educating them on how to use the software.
• When it comes to signing up, the images change after each step to reflect previous user inputs. In short, it is a perfect touch that makes the whole experience feel more personalized.
• Slack introduces features like Threads and Activity through empty states instead of dragging new users through an exhaustive tour of every feature. Slack helps its users by explaining how these features will function once the user is active.

With deep knowledge and understanding, you can build an awesome user experience that will make your app stand out.

3. Get users to their goals faster

In this changing world, people are always on the go. Therefore, it is believed that anything that can be saved can hugely enhance your app’s user experience. To create a faster and smart user experience, you can use the information that you’ve already had. Mobile apps enable you to get a plethora of data like user’s location, address book, pictures, calendar, and much more.

Taking an example of the Wallaby app, the primary use case of this app is advising which card to use. Earlier versions of the app explained a list of nearby locations when launching the app and required users to select a place before the app would let them know which credit card to use. Now, a modified version of the Wallaby app presents the same list of nearby locations. Users can still tap on the place to get more detailed information if they want to.

All you need to make sure is that your users would reach their goals at a faster speed.

4. Shorten forms and use touch controls

Nobody likes lengthy forms; however, it is especially not true when using a smartphone or tablet. If lead generation has gated offers, you can consider cutting form down for mobile phone users.

Mobile experience should always be quick and easy for users. Nobody wants to spend more than a few seconds filling out a form. You need to make it super simple for them by only asking for a name and email address or use a smart CRM that can detect previous information captured by contact and autofill a few form fields.

Make sure your forms are reactive to switch to mobile in functionality as well. Touch controls allow users to easily toggle between dates, times, etc. They are great for scheduling appointments, filling out birthdays, and more.

5. Get feedback early and often

With a 1-star review, you can learn a lot about what’s wrong about the product. Whether it is about the app crashing or missing features and incorrect data, it always affects the reputation of the mobile app. Not everybody wants to take time to write a review; therefore, it’s highly recommended to send feedback to users in other ways or contact your users to get their opinion. Above all, it’s important to let users have an easy way to contact you. This way, you’ll get to know what is going on wrong.

An ideal app should offer multiple ways to send feedback on diverse screens. Plus, it should send out emails and surveys about the app and what can be improved.

6. Integrate a conversational marketing or live chat feature

Help your searchers and save them by hunting throughout your mobile app by integrating live chat options on the app. It enables users or searchers to get quick answers, either from your sales team or virtual assistant.

It’s also essential your responses are precise and sweet for mobile users if you are going to use chatbot technology. Since long and complicated messages are more frustrating to read through on a small device. It also hinders the space they need to navigate your website while still chatting with your assistant.

7. Creating the mobile app navigation bar better

The navigation bar of any mobile app is considered as the user’s direct contact with the design. Essentially, you need to take care of this point while developing a mobile app. In case, if users face navigational problems while using it, then it is structurally flawed. A great UX design consists of a good navigation design that helps in understanding the patterns. For example, in the case of Android, its material design navigation bar is done as per Google’s guidelines to attain a good Android UX design.

8. Enhance UX Design through colors

Being a UX designer, it should be essential to know that color plays a critical role in app designing. All you need to be smart enough to pick the right color and texture for the app that can draw the attention of the users. A vibrant color impacts the purchasing decisions of the customers.

Concluding Thoughts

Before getting down to the details of UX design, it’s pivotal to get the design’ highest level flow, establishing a skeleton around which you can build the design.

Focus on establishing a crystal clear design and some clear users’ goals before getting into the details. Resisting the urge to focus on more information without clear design goals can save wasted work. In short, don’t dive into the details until you have everything mapped out. However, a leading and professional mobile app development company can often help you to achieve goals with outstanding results.